Steve Rustad illuminates issues and dissects politics

Everyone I talk to tells me that I'm going to feel much better after this Friday's open heart surgery. Some say they didn't realize how tired they had been until after their pump was re-plumbed. I can't wait.

With cardiac bypass surgery scheduled for mid-April, I increased (or decreased as the case may be) my "lifestyle changes," which (as you probably know when it comes to food) translates to identifying everything that tastes good and avoid it at all costs. In all fairness, when I assessed the list [...]

Headed into the stress test figuring, "how hard can this be?" Turns out that it's pretty hard when the choke on your pump is full on. For those of you who don't remember when cars had chokes - it was a lever on the dashboard that you pulled to starve [...]

High cholesterol - no problem. Take a statin. Despite regular strenuous exercise, can't run more than 30 yards without being winded - big problem. No drug for this. Well, there is, but nitroglycerin is a stopgap, at best.